Comment by cheema33
7 hours ago
> We're retiring later and later, working more per week
That may be true. But, if somebody offered me a time machine to travel back in time and live at any point in history, would I take it? Hell no.
> purchasing power is going down
That is not a new thing.
> quality of goods is going down
Phones are better. Computers are better. Cars, planes, washing machines ...
> life expectancy is decreasing
On the whole, this is not the case.
> child mortality is increasing
Globally?
> illiteracy is increasing
Globally?
You seem to have a negative view of things. And sure, many things are not great. But the examples you gave are not it.
Ya some people don't know the difference between their country falling apart versus the world falling apart.
> their country
Not even, I was taking the US as an example because they're at the front of this "tech will deliver us" hypothesis
What does it matter the world gets better when your neighbors do worse?
If all but one of my neighbors were improving, why would I focus on the one that insists on repeatedly shooting itself in the dick?
The other people in the world who aren’t your neighbors are also people.
> But, if somebody offered me a time machine to travel back in time and live at any point in history, would I take it? Hell no.
If given a choice I would rather be born in 1940s. 80 years of relative peace, prosperity, cheap education, cheap housing, only single parent needs to work, stronger community network, less overpopulation, better access to doctors, better wealth equality, and you get to partake in the first generation of computers before computers became a method of spying and manipulation of purchasing decisions. Honestly I would much rather be hacking on v6 unix than what I am currently doing.
Sign me up.
But when meeting friends, you’d have to agree in advance to a spot and time and wait aimlessly, so many times in the day. Then you’d pick up smoking or reading depending on your character.
Not globally, just in the place we let these things run at full speed without regulations: the US
> But, if somebody offered me a time machine to travel back in time and live at any point in history, would I take it?
This question always implies "to the high middle ages, or to 300CE". Of course I wouldn't. But to the 1990s? Probably I would.